Joakim Noah Out For 4-6 Months & Could Be Leaving The Chicago Bulls

Joakim Noah will undergo surgery to repair his dislocated left shoulder, the Bulls said Saturday, and he will be sidelined for four to six months.

As an unrestricted free agent, Noah might have played his last game for the franchise that drafted him in 2007.

Noah suffered the injury when he became entangled with the Mavericks’ JaVale McGee on Friday night. The Bulls said details of the timing and location of Noah’s surgery, as well as his rehabilitation program, has yet to be finalized.

The team recalled Cristiano Felicio from the Canton Charge of the Development League Saturday morning, a transaction clearly tied to Noah’s injury.

Noah dislocated the same shoulder he separated on Dec. 21 and missed nine games.

When Noah suffered the first shoulder injury, an MRI revealed a small tear that the Bulls waited two weeks to see if it healed or needed surgery. Eventually, doctors cleared Noah for contact. He was playing his fourth game back when he suffered his latest injury, the shoulder clearly popping out of joint after he became entangled with McGee.

Felicio was with the Bulls for one game in Philadelphia because Pau Gasol missed that one to rest a sore left shoulder and Achilles.